Same Faces, New Places (Part 2: Western Conference Part 1)

This is part 2 of a 3 part series. To see part 1, click here.

Warriors

New Player	Position	Games Played	Age	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	STL	BLK	TS%
Willie Cauley-Stein	C	81	26	27.3	11.9	8.4	2.4	1.2	0.6	56.6%
D’Angelo Russell	PG	81	23	30.2	21.1	3.9	7.0	1.2	0.2	53.3%

From their Finals performance to Free Agency, the Warriors suffered multiple losses this off-season. Their list of former players includes Demarcus Cousins, long time bench anchors Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, but their biggest loss consists of the 7-foot scoring-hole left in their hearts by Kevin Durant’s departure. For the cherry on top, with Klay Thompson’s ACL injury suffered in Game 6 of the Finals, the 2 guard is scheduled to be out until after the All-Star break. Despite their losses taken, because of their off-season moves, the Warriors have things to look forward to in Willie Cauley-Stein and D’Angelo Russell.

Although not as big of a name as others, Willie Cauley-Stein could prove to be an underrated pickup for Golden State. The Warriors have had a fairly similar situation like this before in Javale McGee: both are athletic 7-footers that can run the floor, both are good roll-men off of screens, and both are inconsistent with different quirks that prevent them from being a better player. For McGee, you have his athletic asthma, along with a few clips from Shaqtin’ a Fool showing him being clumsy and having mental lapses, leading to costly, but entertaining plays. For Cauley-Stein, he is known for having lackadaisical defense, averaging only 0.6 blocks last season despite being an extremely talented athlete. The biggest difference between the two, however, is their age. McGee is 5 years older the Cauley-Stein (31 years old vs. 26 years old), and he improved greatly on the Warriors, despite not being in his physical prime. With Cauley-Stein being 26, he has more time to start new, revitalize his game, and fulfill his potential, and him being on the Warriors will help him with these objectives greatly.

After being traded to the Nets by the Lakers in 2018, the 23 year old D’Angelo Russell had his career best season, blossoming into a great player and MIP candidate in Brooklyn, and with multiple 40 point outings, high assist games and clutch moments, it is hard to argue against. Russell is a great young offensive player, showing his scoring and shooting prowess, as well as his ability to find teammates, all of which can be improved upon even more in this upcoming season. Trading an injured Kevin Durant for him, the Warriors have a chance to develop Russell into an even better player by surrounding him with the best players he’s played with. Adding his growing skill set to established greats like Curry, Thompson and Green, the Warriors with D’Angelo Russell’s development will be a team to keep an eye on.

Jazz

New Player	Position	Games Played	Age	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	STL	BLK	TS%
Bojan Bogdanovic	SF	81	29	31.8	18.0	4.1	2.0	0.9	0.0	61.3%
Mike Conley	PG	70	31	33.5	21.1	3.4	6.4	1.3	0.3	56.9%

Within the past few years, the Jazz have had a young team that fights for playoff spots. The results have been middling, the farthest they’ve gone being the WCSF. With their core of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz looked to improve this off-season, and they accomplished it with multiple players, the biggest names being Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley.

Bojan Bogdanovic, despite being not as big of a name as a Westbrook or even Mike Conley, could end up being a very important pickup for the Jazz. With Oladipo succumbing to injury last season, the Pacers as a whole rose to the Occasion to make the playoffs, including Bogdanovic. He ended up with career high averages, including a near 4-point jump in PPG from last year. Bogdanovic has proven himself as a solid defender and an efficient shooter and scorer when needed, which will help open the floor and give more space to operate for the Jazz’s main perimeter players in Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley.

Coming off a career high in PPG, Mike Conley, as strange as it sounds, has been known to be underrated for his whole career. The former Grizzlies star Point Guard has been considered a tier below elite, not earning an All-Star or All-NBA selection in his 11 year career. Despite the lack of accolades, Conley’s well-rounded game will be very useful to balancing out the Jazz.

His versatility is displayed well on offense, where he can play many roles. Conley is a good pick and roll player, who is able to take advantage of having shooters, and is used to having a good big as his screener (Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, and now Rudy Gobert). Conley is also a good scorer, who can spread the floor with his shooting from both spot up positions and coming off screens to get open, as well as being a solid finisher in the paint, including a unique right-handed floater, despite being a lefty. For defense, Conley has proven his worth, winning a 2013 2nd team All-Defense award, as well as being a key player on the defensive minded, “Grit ‘n Grind,” Memphis Grizzlies teams. The Jazz, being a defensive minded team lacking offense, will benefit greatly from both Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley, and could be the pieces to a deep playoff run this coming season.

Rockets

New Player	Position	Games Played	Age	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	STL	BLK	TS%
Russell Westbrook	PG	73	30	36.0	22.9	11.1	10.7	1.9	0.5	50.1

The Rockets and Thunder have had a similar past 2 years: Both have MVP candidates on their teams who got help in the form of other all-stars via front office moves in an effort to win a championship. Although the Rockets had better regular seasons and went further into the playoffs then the Thunder, both teams ended up falling short of their goal of reaching the Finals, both teams ending their playoff runs each year in spectacular and historic fashion. This off-season, the two MVPs and former teammates are now reunited on the Rockets, but there is one big question: how will the offensive play styles of Westbrook and Harden mix?

Both Harden and Westbrook are high volume, high usage players. Per NBA.com/stats, both players took over 20 shots a game and ended up in the top 10 in usage rate among players who played at least 1900 minutes last season, Harden 1st (39.6%) and Westbrook 10th (30.1%), respectively. Both players are used to playing the Point Guard role, so who will play off-ball? With either at the head, you take advantage of each of their strengths. Harden at the PG allows you to have a ball handler with great court-vision who opens up the court with his efficient scoring everywhere on the court, and Westbrook playing off-ball more allows you to take advantage of his supreme athleticism in slashing and finishing at the rim. With Westbrook at the PG, you have a ball handler with great court-vision who can drive with great athleticism and a full head of steam to the rim, and Harden playing off-ball gives you a shooter on the wing, as well as a finisher at the rim. However, all of this is still limited by one major factor, which is Westbrook’s shooting.

Both players shoot the ball a lot, but the main difference between Westbrook and Harden is how efficient they were in their attempts. Per NBA.com/stats, not only is Harden more efficient than Westbrook in nearly every major spot on the floor, as seen in both shooting charts, but Harden also attempted more free throws at a better percentage than Westbrook (11 FTA at 87.9% vs 6.2 FTA at 65.6%). So no matter which role either player plays, the limiting factor for the Rockets will end up being how well Westbrook will shoot the ball this coming season.